Culture Archives - Page 1524 of 1552

Why Conker Went From Cute to Crass

Rare’s Conker used to be a nice little squirrel. He was cute, he had polite friends, and he was going to be starring in a very Nintendo platformer for a Nintendo console. Yet as you probably know, that’s not how things ended up. In the late 90s, as Rare was following up their success with…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2012

Culture

Christian Bravery’s Concept Art Kills Zones, Borders Lands

Christian Bravery, who founded and still works at concept art studio Leading Light, has been in the business for over two decades In that time, he’s helped shape the appearance of franchises as diverse as LittleBigPlanet, Killzone, Borderlands, Fable, NBA Jam and XCOM Sadly much of that good stuff is, as is typical in the…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Let’s Watch the Intro to Syndicate, Circa 1993

The single best piece of video game news today is that the original Syndicate is this Thursday going on sale over on Good Old Games for $6. You’ll get more fun out of that game than you will most games costing 10x as much. So let’s celebrate. Here’s the intro to the original 1993 game,…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012

Culture

Game Art From Star Wars, Command & Conquer, Call of Duty & More

Thomas A. Szakolczay is a video game concept artist. With twelve years experience across some of the biggest franchises in the business, if you can’t tell me you’ve played a game he’s worked on, you’re probably lying. He’s been employed by the likes of Activision, Capcom, Epic, EA, Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Warner Bros., Lucasarts and…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

My First Nintendo “Console”

I may have explained this a few times already, but growing up in Australia in the 1980s usually meant growing up without Nintendo. The NES was here, and people bought it, but it was never the sensation it was elsewhere. Most kids/adults played on computers or Sega machines. That didn’t stop me wanting one, though.…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 15, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: Blow Me

Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Jan. 9.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Jan. 11.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…

By Owen Good Published January 15, 2012

Culture

This Week in the Business: ‘Xbox 360 Exclusives are Becoming Fewer’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Xbox 360 exclusives are becoming fewer.”—David Cole, analyst at DFC Intelligence, talks about Microsoft’s overall entertainment and apps focus taking away from the company’s securing game exclusives QUOTE | “Consoles are in trouble.”—Gene Hoffman, CEO of Vindicia, in an industry panel…

Steve Peterson Published January 13, 2012

Culture

Daarken’s Fantasy Art Has Shades of Mass Effect

The mildly-bizarre partnership between Mass Effect 3 and…Kingdoms of Amalur was announced with a wonderful piece of art. That piece was the work of Mike “Daarken” Lim, a freelance games artist whose stuff we’ll be looking at today. Beginning his career in 2004 creating monsters for Wizards of the Coast (creators of Magic: the Gathering),…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2012

Culture

This World of Warcraft Art Takes it to the Brink (I’m Sorry…)

Laurel D. Austin does some great work. Employed for years at Splash Damage, the team behind Brink, she’s recently joined Blizzard, where she’s working as a concept artist. Living the dream. In this gallery you will find: some of her amazing work for Brink (say what you will about the game, its art was awesome)…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 12, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Say Hello To The Dreamcast Television Set

The Divers 2000 series CX-1 Dreamcast was the best of its class

By Luke Plunkett Published January 11, 2012

Culture

We Fear a World Without Twinkies as Hostess Files For Bankruptcy Again

Being a comic book fan in the 80s I grew up thinking there was no problem that couldn’t be solved by golden flaky crust or delicious cream filling. Apparently that doesn’t apply to financial insolvency, as snack cake maker Hostess Brands files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time. It’s hard for me to…

By Mike Fahey Published January 11, 2012

Culture

This Game Art Wages Total War On Robots, Dragons and Fast Cars

Swedish artist Andrée Wallin has quite the resume. Since getting into the business in 2008, he’s provided concept art for games like Oblivion, Dirt 3, DJ Hero, Napoleon: Total War, MotorStorm and Split Second. Right now, he’s working with 343 Industries on Halo 4 He’s also worked with clients like Universal Pictures and the Jim…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 11, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

Let’s Watch the Kick-Ass Dragon Quest Anime!

A few video games have had the honour of being turned into animated series. Zelda and Mario are two of the most prominent, if terrible examples, while Wing Commander is a rarity that got it right Another that got it right, and in a big, big way, were the anime series based on blockbuster role-playing…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 10, 2012

Culture

Runescape is Getting a Facelift. Here’s Some Art.

Here’s something cool. Runescape, the venerable (and hideous) MMO that’s now over ten years old, is getting a graphical overhaul later this year. Before the new models take their place in the game, though, concept artists had a tricky challenge. How to maintain the identity of such ancient characters but update them for 2012? And…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 10, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

The Legend of the Legend of Zelda Board Games

In 1988, Milton Bradley released a Legend of Zelda board game. Awesomely, it wasn’t a lazy conversion of an existing game like we see now, with Nintendo Monopoly or Metal Gear Risk. It was a game specifically tailored for Zelda And take a look at that box art! Amazing stuff. The game was based on…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2012

CultureTotal Recall

There’s Nothing Like Vintage Sci-Fi Art to Liven up a Game Cover

Few things on this planet get me more excited than classic science fiction art. Wait, no. Quality classic science fiction art. Which means people like John Berkey, who is the man behind two of the best examples of sci-fi box art from the 1990s. Berkey, who passed away in 2008, was a prolific commercial artist…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 8, 2012

Culture

Zen and the Art of Pinball

The new year is still getting off to a slow start. Highlights this week are entirely downloadable titles, for PS3, Xbox 360 and on the 3DS eShop, where Zen Pinball releases on Thursday. Tuesday • Choplifter HD (PC, PSN) Wednesday • AMY (XBLA) • Choplifter HD (XBLA) Thursday • Zen Pinball 3D (3DS eShop) Sources:…

By Owen Good Published January 8, 2012

Culture

Sunday Comics: The Safety Dance

Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Jan. 2.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Jan. 6.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…

By Owen Good Published January 8, 2012

Culture

This Week in the Business: ‘Nintendo Must Stop Living in the Past’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Nintendo must stop living in the past.” – Michael Pachter, Wedbush Securities analyst looking at the Wii U’s design and how it is going to make their launch difficult QUOTE | “I think I’d be disappointed if Kotaku didn’t change.” –…

Steve Peterson Published January 6, 2012

Culture

The Head-Punching Game & Comic Art of Dave Wilkins

Dave Wilkins is a concept artist in the video game business. He’s also an artist in the comics business. So if you see awesome art in this gallery about comic characters in video games, or video game characters in comic books, do not be alarmed. What you’ll see in the gallery above is a selection…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 5, 2012